The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and its Office of Credit Ratings have issued an Investor Bulletin to educate investors about credit ratings. The following subjects were addressed: What is a credit rating? What a credit rating is not. Who provides credit ratings? Potential conflicts of interest in credit ratings. Where can you find credit ratings and related information? Why do investors use credit ratings? Credit ratings are subjective. See: SEC Investor Bulletin.

SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher delivered a speech to the AICPA/SIFMA Financial Management Society Conference on the Securities Industry regarding the need for the SEC to re-prioritize its agenda to focus on subjects more relevant to the SEC mission. Commissioner Gallagher stated that this mission is comprised of three intertwined components: to facilitate capital formation, to maintain orderly and efficient capital markets, and to protect investors. While the mission is fairly straightforward, Gallagher said that often becomes complicated due to "the thick overlay of recent congressional

The SEC sanctioned three SEC-registered investment advisory firms for violating the "custody rule" which requires each firm to meet certain standards when maintaining custody of their clients' funds or securities. In 2010, the SEC amended the custody rule to strengthen investor protections. The amendment required all advisers with custody to undergo an annual "surprise exam" to verify the existence of client assets. Advisers are required to comply with the custody rule if, as elaborated in the SEC releases linked to below, the investment adviser has "legal ownership or access to client assets

SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar delivered a speech at the 20th Annual Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Seminar regarding recent SEC initiatives to strengthen the enforcement program. Commissioner Aguilar began by pointing out that much of the reputation of the SEC is based on the performance of the Division of Enforcement. Therefore, Aguilar said, ever since he first took office, he has focused on strengthening the enforcement program, leading to his nickname of "The Enforcement Commissioner." Continuing to speak about his work on enforcement, Aguilar noted developments in

The MSRB held its quarterly meeting from October 23 through 25, in which it established priorities for the implementation of a regulatory framework for municipal advisors and agreed to develop and solicit public comment on a "best execution" rule for the municipal market. In light of the SEC September 2013 final registration rule for municipal advisors, the MSRB agreed to proceed with the development of a regulatory framework for advisors that prioritizes the following five rules aimed at protecting municipal entities and investors: fiduciary duty and fair dealing standards of conduct of